Pam Padgett ... member of body of Christ
Yesterday I met for the first time with a contractor, Ira, and his business partner to discuss converting a room on the main level of my house into a bedroom and bathroom.
Toward the end of the time they were here, I asked how long they thought it would take for them to do this project.
The business partner quickly answered 8 weeks, but then Ira said he estimated 4-6 weeks.
His business partner then said he had said 8 weeks so that when they completed the project early I'd be very pleased with everything.
That this man lied wasn't obvious to me at first.
But this morning God drew my attention to what this man had said and that it was a lie.
This continued to be drawn to my attention as I took my neighbor to a doctor appointment this morning.
I prayed about what to do in this.
When I returned from the appointment, there was both an email and a phone message from Joan.
Yesterday when I had told Joan about meeting with the contractor, I had mentioned what this man had said.
As Joan was looking at Psalm 1 this morning, she was reminded of the deception shown by the business partner in that which he had said.
Psalm 1:1-4 Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.
She had also been reminded of this deliberate lie spoken by him the previous day.
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As I considered this and continued praying, I was reminded of the following ...
Proverbs 6:1-5 My son, if thou be surety for thy friend, if thou hast stricken thy hand with a stranger, Thou art snared with the words of thy mouth, thou art taken with the words of thy mouth. Do this now, my son, and deliver thyself, when thou art come into the hand of thy friend; go, humble thyself, and make sure thy friend.
Give not sleep to thine eyes, nor slumber to thine eyelids. Deliver thyself as a roe from the hand of the hunter, and as a bird from the hand of the fowler.
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By all of these things I knew I was being led to not work with this contractor and that I needed to deal with this immediately.
I spoke with the contractor on the phone, telling him that I had decided to look for another contractor and told him why.
It was obvious he had no understanding and didn't realize, even after I told him, that what his business partner had said was a lie. I knew I couldn't make him understand, that only God could give him understanding. God did not open his understanding. Therefore I knew not to try to work with this man.
I offered to pay him for the time they had spent here yesterday, and for the time spent today working on a proposal to do this project, but he declined this.
I am very glad that all of this came out. Working with this contractor is obviously not the way I should go. I'm very glad to have been stopped, and so quickly.
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